The atmosphere suddenly became tense and confrontational.
Wildfire Johnny looked at the person in front of him, his fingertips trembling slightly, but with a sidelong glance at his brothers behind him, the long-trained fear in his heart was instantly replaced by determination.
Johnny raised his head and fixed a burning gaze on the person from the Tasting Commerce Association in front of him, saying, "Bucher! Our Wildfire Gang has nothing to do with your Tasting Commerce Association anymore. The last thing we did for you was the final one."
Upon hearing this, Bucher found it laughable. In his eyes, the Wildfire Gang was just a pack of dogs raised on scraps by the Tasting Commerce Association.
If the association needed this pack of dogs to attack someone, the dogs would frantically pounce and tear, even if it meant getting their legs broken and teeth pulled out. There would be no retreat.
Bucher was responsible for such work within the association, holding the position of a manager.
The top position below the manager.
Bucher’s duty was to raise dogs.
Raise a lot of dogs, and when the association needed dirty or tiring work done, he was in charge of opening the cage.
The Wildfire Gang was naturally one of his dogs.
Towards the person in front of him, Johnny felt a natural fear and dread, but he also harbored hatred.
In the beginning, Johnny was actually grateful to Bucher. After all, if it wasn’t for his intervention during the Wildfire Gang’s youth, they would have long perished in various alleys and muddy pits.
When they started working for Bucher, Johnny and his people were willing, doing anything for a bite to eat.
But later on, Johnny and the others gradually realized that no matter what they did, they never received the respect they deserved.
Even if respect was insignificant compared to the absurdity of surviving in this damn world, any dignity was irrelevant.
However, what the Tasting Commerce Association next required them to do became more and more vile.
Anyone crossing the association’s path had to be eliminated by them.
Killing entire families... Johnny first felt the urge to resist when ordered by Bucher to eliminate a businessman secretly dealing in private salt.
This person was a smuggler under the Tasting Commerce Association, dealing in private salt, and was supposed to submit 80% of his monthly income to the association.
Even with just the remaining 20%, the business was highly profitable. Follow current novels on novel[f]ire.net
But he was secretly altering the books, changing his actual monthly income, and the reported salt losses didn’t match the actual transports.
The fees he submitted monthly compared to his actual income did not meet the association’s 80% requirement, exceeding only up to 20%!
Underhanded to rebel against authority.
How could the association tolerate such a person’s existence?
The association wanted to make an example of him.
The association wanted the entire family of this private salt merchant dead.
The task was given to Bucher, and Bucher passed it on to Johnny.
Johnny was fourteen at the time.
To survive, it’s nothing more than life-and-death struggle, killing is just routine.
For Johnny, it was as simple as eating and drinking water.
Johnny forcefully led his men to kill, and when the merchant saw that Johnny and the others had grasped the full story, there wasn’t a trace of fear in his eyes.
The merchant only asked Johnny, "If I alone did this, can my family be spared if I die?"
Johnny shook his head coldly, he had to complete the task assigned by Bucher.
"You should have considered the consequences before doing these things. Since you took the association’s money, your family members also benefited, so they all must die.
You shouldn’t have been so greedy."
At that time, Johnny thought the merchant deserved it. Even with such an opportunity, receiving only 20% still allowed the merchant to live comfortably, which was enviable compared to the miserable experiences of the Wildfire Gang.
But who could blame him for being so greedy?
Dissatisfied with 20%, he insisted on 80%.
If the association didn’t punish with the harshest measures, how could they manage their subordinates?
Upon learning of this, the merchant only laughed at himself.
"But how could that amount of money support more people?"
At first, he didn’t understand, thinking the merchant wasn’t satisfied with merely having white rice to eat, but greedily wanted luxurious pleasures like adding braised meat.
But just as the Wildfire Gang was about to strike, numerous children rushed out from the merchant’s house, each wearing thin clothing but washed clean, eyes burning with hatred.
Hundreds of children surged from various parts of the slums, some with rusty knives, others just holding a piece of iron.
The children stood in front of the merchant, shouting angrily at Johnny and the others.
The merchant turned pale and ordered the children to get lost, as far as possible.
It wasn’t until this moment that Johnny finally realized why the merchant, despite amassing so much money, still lived in the slums, and why his clothes were still patched despite his wealth.
His money was entirely used to feed all the tender mouths in the slums.
How could there be such people in the apocalypse?
Why would anyone have such kindness in the apocalypse?
The children’s eyes were filled with fury, knowing only that it was the merchant who had provided them with food, without the merchant’s thick porridge, they would have perished.
The merchant cursed his wife because all these children had been brought there by her.
This was, seemingly, the only way the merchant’s wife could find to protect them.
But the merchant didn’t want more innocent people to die because of him.